Arts and Letters

The Dawning of Aloe Veritas

Good Morning and welcome to the dawning of Aloe Veritas. We hope this unusually named blog will someday become an online magazine. We want to publish authors and artists whose work illuminates the vegan world view, and those who seek to protect and preserve all animals (including humans), and heal Mother Earth herself.

But why the name, Aloe Veritas? What’s the association
with Aloe? Where does ‘Veritas’ come from? This choice of name has some
pretty deep roots. For one thing, the Aloe Vera plant has almost
miraculous healing powers (if you ever get a small burn or scrape try putting a
small piece of Aloe directly on it. The immediate relief is amazing) but
it is also a misunderstood plant. The name is not latin, as most people
think, and it is not any kind of cactus, as almost everyone thinks.

Aloe Vera is a member of the lily family and its latin or
botanical name is A. Barbadensis Miller. It was probably first found by the
Romans in northern Africa (where it originates) and they then brought it to
middle Europe where it was soon widespread due to its medicinal
properties. The probable first name of the plant that was known to
Europeans was: Alethia Veritas, as the Romans (may have) named
it. Both Alethia and Veritas are goddess names: Alethia was the Goddess
of Justice, and Veritas was the Goddess of Truth. These goddess names
were a good choice for such a powerfully healing little plant, but over time
and passage through various languages and regions, the name Alethia Veritas
transliterated and morphed into Aloe Vera – simpler, easier to say and
remember…

But there are all kinds of conjectures out there as to where the name Aloe Vera actually comes from: everything from the word Aloe being based on the semitic word “aloeh” meaning ‘healing properties’ (but which word came first?) and there are some that think that Aloe might be a transliteration of the word Allah (like the Spanish bullfight chant “Ole!” probably is). But no one really has any alternative theories as to where “Vera” comes from. The latin word for truth is verum, so again it’s similar but not the same word. Truthfully, the origins of the name ‘Aloe Vera’ are anyone’s guess.

We like the name Aloe Veritas because Aloe is instantly recognizable the world over and is a fine nickname for Alethia. And Veritas, the Goddess of Truth, once greatly honored but according to Roman lore, became shunned and so disrespected by the public that she had to withdraw and hide in a holy well. And we know what happened to the Romans and how much respect, certainly by the end of their dominance, that they had for ‘Truth’ (none). Our own society, particularly now that we seem to be living in ‘TrumpWorld’, also has a tendency to disrespect the Truth. Wherever greed and the lust for power decide to take over, Truth is the first casualty. But Truth cannot be completely destroyed or banished forever. Veritas, Goddess of Truth, survives even now — sometimes obliged to hide in the deep well of consciousness, but always there waiting to be heard.

We want to honor Aloe Veritas once again and encourage people to listen to that “still, small voice” of truth that rises from the holy well within each of us. This is what will heal our world and help us turn back the forces that are working to destroy the environment and all species living within it. The Truth can reveal and the Truth can heal. And it will be there waiting to be heard even at the end of time. But if we want to survive, and have a world that is worth living in, we must let the truth speak. We must listen. And we must act.